Halo Legacy
by Blaze210
Summary: Set two years after the events of Halo 3. Follow Spartan IV Fireteam Valor as they race to uncover a plot set in motion by the Covenant Remnant. Alternate reality will not follow the events of Halo 4!
1. Fireteam Valor BiosIntroduction

_**Hey Guys! Blaze here! And I have a new story! For the first time ever its not a Pokemon story! I would like to introduce my new Halo Story called Halo Legacy! Now for you hardcore Halo fans this may not be four you. Halo is a bit harder to write for since you have a story and lore to follow and there is a lot to know, but I tried my hardest. This story take place post Halo 3 but pre Halo 4 and it follows a group of Spartan IVs. This will also be an alternate story line where Halo 4 never happens and the Master Chief stays in cryo sleep. However, I will follow some of the things set by Halo 4, such as the Spartan IVs and weapons, etc. Anyway this chapter is just the introduction to the characters. Before anyone ask I am not taking OCs. However I would like to thank The Darkness Knight for allowing me to use his character Bill Weston and would also like to thank Ryth Slove for allowing me to use his Ryth Slove character from the story Draconia: A Hero's Tale. Anyway, go forward and meet the Spartans of Fireteam Valor!**_

**Spartan IV Fireteam Valor**

Spartan IV_ Paul Ramirez

Role: Valor Team Leader

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Height: 6'5

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Home Planet: Reach

Date of Birth: February 10th, 2530

Family: All Deceased

Paul was 18 when he entered the Marine Corps, a choice he wanted to make for a while. Paul showed his skill and valor as a member of the 11th Marine Force Reconnaissance, an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper unit. He left his home and his planet behind to go fight the Covenant and protect humanity. Paul was there during the battle of Reach. But as Reach neared its end Paul was evacuated to Earth. Sadly, his family had been killed during the Covenant's initial invasion of Reach. Seeking revenge, Months later Paul fought in the Battle of Instillation 05 and was a part of Operation: BLIND FAITH, which saw the end of the Human-Covenant War.

Paul, having tons of military experience in his short career and being one of the few individuals to survive an encounter with the Flood, was one of the first to be handpicked for the Spartan IV project. He accepted the offer and became the new model of Spartans.

He uses the ODST variant for his MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN 2]. His armor is colored a steel gray with Gold as its secondary color.

Paul, just like every other Spartan, excels at use of all arms and all forms of combat, but he prefers close combat. Since he prefers close quarters combat and sometimes needs to close the distance between him and his foes quickly, Paul has put into use one of Bill's inventions. The Combat Rush armor ability, which doubles the running speed and reflexes/reaction time of the user, while slightly increasing the users strength. Paul uses the M45 Shotgun and the MA5D Assault Rifle with a modified H-165 FOM Target Locator attached to the bottom. He also has the standard M6H Pistol sidearm.

Spartan IV_ Alea Paige

Role: Reconnaissance

Gender: Female

Age: 24

Height: 6' 3"

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Brunette

Home Planet: Earth

DOB: September 27th, 2531

Family: Mom and Dad alive and well.

Alea lived a normal life, or as normal as it got, until the Human-Covenant War hit Earth. She and her family were rescued from danger during the Covenant's invasion of Earth; however, she became separated from them. She survived on her own as a war refuge, drifting aimlessly from planet to planet. Not much else to do, she joined the UNSC and signed on as a volunteer nurse at a Military hospital, due to the fact that she hated fighting, but still wanted to help out the war effort in any way she could. The Covenant attacked the hospital, killing most of the marines stationed there. With only a few Marines left, Alea picked up a weapon and, for the first time in her life, fought against an enemy that had taken so much from her. Surprisingly, she handled the rifle she had been given as if she had been using guns her whole life. The Covenant were held back long enough for help to arrive. After that encounter, Alea was indoctrinated into the Spartan IV program. Her indoctrination into the Spartan IV program was more of an experiment to see if someone will little combat training could be trained to be a Spartan.

Alea uses the Venator variant of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN 2]. Her armor is colored brown as primary and gold as secondary.

Alea is an excellent long distance fighter (Which she prefers.), but she isn't afraid to get up close and personal. She uses the Active Camouflage emitter to sneak up on enemies and remain unseen. Depending on the type of mission, Alea prefers to carry different weapons. She usually wields the Sniper Rifle S99 – S5 AM with a Silencer attachment to go with it (Depending on the situation.). She also wields the BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle (Or the BR85 Battle Rifle) and the M7 Caseless Submachine Gun.

Spartan IV_ Ryth

Role: Sniper

Gender: Male

Age: 24 ½

Height: 6' 4 ½"

Eye Color: Silver

Hair Color: Silver

Home Land: Draconia (Questionable existence?)

Family: Classified

Birth Date: Unknown or does not translate to human time standards

His past is shrouded in mystery. The other Marines and Spartans seek to understand him, but he will not allow it. He came from a small planet outside the reach of Halo's destruction named Draconia, but its existence has never been proven. Ryth had experienced war back on his home planet only a year or so before the Halo war. After the Draconian War, he found himself on Earth as a result of careless experimentation. He had been messing with prototype teleporters, and when he used one of them, a flaw in the design sent him to Earth. This was not the desired location, and he was soon dragged into the UNSC.

Why was Ryth considered a prototype Spartan? He is from a world filled with the essence of magic, and as such he is different from the other Spartans. As a result, his armor had to be specially tailored to preserve his abilities as much as possible. He wears a special armor suit designed after the Scout variant.

Ryth also puts into use the custom made Combat Rush armor ability. His weapons of choice are the SRS99-S5 AM Sniper Rifle with a modified silencer attached (courtesy of Bill) and a personalized M395 Designated Marksman Rifle or DMR that is small enough to fit on his thigh, yet retains all of the original design's statistics. His favorite sidearm is his trusty katana, which was "forged from heavenly steel by the Goddess of his land," though any attempts to recreate this material have been in failure.

After a few weeks of training as a Spartan, Ryth surpassed his teammates. The rest of his service history is considered "Classified" under the highest degree.

Spartan IV_ JD (Jacob Daniel)

Role: Demolitions

Gender: Male

Age: 26

Height: 6'5

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Black

Home Planet: Earth

Family: Mother, Father, Stepfather all alive

Date of Birth: May 2nd, 2529

JD was born on planet Earth. He was raised alone by his mother. He grew up never knowing his real father. His mother remarried when JD was still young. His stepfather was a member of the UNSC Marine Corp. JD's stepfather raised the boy as if he was his own son and so JD came to respect him. At the age of 18, JD joined the Marine Corps and was assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit was sent to reinforce Marine ground forces during the battle of New Jerusalem, in which the UNSC battled Covenant forces. The 26th was near annihilated, but managed to hold back the Covenant. JD was one of the few survivors of the battle.

The survivors of the 26th were transferred to other units. JD was sent to the 11th Marine Force Reconnaissance, the same unit as Paul. Due to serving together, they became close friends. JD participated in the Battle of Instillation 05 and Operation: BLIND FAITH, which saw the end of the Human – Covenant War.

JD, having survived annihilation, The Covenant, and The Flood, was recommended by Paul for the Spartan IV Program.

JD uses the Soldier variant for his MJLONIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN 2]. His armor is colored a dark blue as the primary color and dark red as the secondary.

JD was a demolition expert, but also excels at medium range. He uses the Armor Lock ability. He uses the MA5D Assault Rifle with a modified M301 Grenade Launcher attached to the bottom. He also wields either the M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault Weapon (M41 SSR) or the M6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle(Aka The Spartan Laser Cannon.) and on occasion The Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine – 920 (ARC – 920) simply known as the Railgun. He also carries the M6H Pistol sidearm and the M363 Remote Projectile Detonator(Aka the Sticky Detonator.) for back up.

Spartan IV – Ashley Connors

Role: Support

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Height: 6'3

Eye Color: Green

Hair Color: Blonde

Home Planet: Classified

Family: Classified

Birth Date: June 28th, 2532

Most of Ashley's past is surrounded in mystery. She was kidnapped by ONI at a young age due to the fact that she had telepathic abilities. She could sense other presences around her, she could move things with her mind, and she could also attack someone mentally if she wished to. However, her powers aren't limited to those listed. ONI took her away from her family to run experiments on her to try and duplicate her abilities in other people. But all attempts in duplicating the powers in others ended in failure..

Ashley has moderate combat experience. She's had one contained encounter against Insurrectionist prisoners of war (To test her abilities.), and several small engagements with Covenant forces during the evacuation of New Alexandria during the battle of Reach.

Paul, upon discovery of Ashley and her abilities, requested that she be transferred to the Spartan IV Program. She was indoctrinated into the Spartan IV Program.

Ashley uses the EVA variant of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN 2]. Her armor's primary color is silver with dark blue as the secondary.

Ashley specialty is that she doesn't have a specialty; she is proficient in all forms and ranges of combat. She uses the Hologram module to trick her foes during combat. She uses the BR85 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle (Or the BR85 Battle Rifle) for long to medium range and the MA5D Assault Rifle for close range. She also has the M7S Caseless Submachine Gun for stealth situations. Her telepathic abilities have given her a supporting combat role.

Spartan IV_ Bill Weston

Role- Weapons Master

Age: 25

Gender: Male

Height: 6'5

Eye color: Hazel

Hair color: Dark Brown

Home planet- Arcadia

Family: Immediate family deceased, girlfriend Amanda still alive

Birth Date: March 15, 2530

James was seventeen years old when he signed up for the UNSC Army. He served as a Master Sergeant for some of his career, and he was quickly booted up to the rank of Lieutenant. He served faithfully for years.

When the war ended, he found out his parents were killed during the Second Occupation of Arcadia and began to distrust the UNSC. He found comfort only in the arms of his girlfriend Amanda, whom he had been with for several years. While on Earth, he was contacted by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to join the Spartan-IV program; he quickly agreed.

He had soon excelled in the program, rising to the rank of full Lieutenant and was granted more shore leave than most outside of combat situation. He has always had a fondness for weapons and making modifications to them. He was soon recruited by Paul to join his team, though he holds himself as a loner among the Spartans. He carries a bit of an attitude, especially against those in command and often doubts the UNSC and ONI's decisions.

He wears a steel and orange colored set of Pathfinder Gen2 armor. He uses a BR55 Heavy Battle Rifle with an optional laser point scope and a grenade launcher attached to the underside of the barrel. He also uses the M45 tactical shotgun which has been modified with an extended barrel. His last weapon of choice is the M6H Magnum sidearm (the standard-issue military-grade pistol) with a silencer.

**_I tried to make everything make as much sense cannonically as I could. Hope I did a good Job. Don't be afraid to leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated!_**


	2. Chapter 1 - Beginnings

**_Here is Chapter One of Halo Legacy! Its the basic introduction chapter setting up everything. Don't worry though! Everything will pick up in the next chapter._**

Chapter 1

**Beginnings**

_Several explosions rocked a small building that a group of ODSTs were held up in. One of the ODSTs lost his balance and fell to the ground. Slowly getting to his feet, the young soldier picked up his MA37 and checked the clip in the weapon just like he had done dozens of times in the last few minutes._

_"Hey, you okay?" a voice asked. The ODST looked over to the source of the voice to see a fellow squadmate. His squadmate was leaning up against the wall with his right hand holding the barrel of his sniper rifle against the wall. "Paul? Paul? You alright?" the voice asked again._

_"Y-Yeah." Paul nodded. "I'm fine Jameson."_

_"Good." Jameson looked away. "Because here comes the Captain." Paul looked in the direction Jameson was looking and saw the Captain approaching as well as two other ODSTs._

_"Parker! Ramirez!" the Captain's voice boomed. "How is the LZ looking?"_

_Parker took a quick look outside a nearby window: remnants of two Shade turrents were all that plastered a balcony; Covenant corpses had been stacked up out of view. "It's looking pretty good commander," Jameson said. "Covies haven't been paying us any attention since that Spartan cleared the path."_

_"Good! We've got Army Troopers heading in from the north; they have more civilians with them," the Captain said. "I expect the Covenant to be not too far behind them. So Parker, I need you to go to the second floor on the northern side of the building. Take your sniper rifle with you and provide cover watch for the approaching Troopers."_

_"Sir." Jameson nodded. He picked up his sniper rifle and was off._

_"Ramirez, I need you to go to the northern entrance and keep an eye out for the Civies," the Captain said._

_"Yes sir!" Paul said and was about to walk off when the Captain stopped him._

_"And Ramirez," the Captain's voice sounded slightly sympathetic, "your family is with the next group. Don't let that distract you from the mission." The Captain and the other ODSTs went out the balcony, obviously to signal the evac dropships. Paul's eyes went wide with surprise and he stood there for a moment. His family was still here on Reach! He thought they had left days ago. Paul rushed off towards the entrance to the building._

_He arrived at the entrance a quick minute later and upon arrival took a quick peek outside. "All clear," he told himself. He looked up above himself; on his heads up display, he could see that Jameson was directly above him._

_"Paul, the Captain wasn't too far off this time," Jameson's voice rang over the com. "I see the troopers and the civilians. ETA to our position: two minutes, tops."_

_"Roger that," Paul replied over the com. He checked the clip in his assault rifle once more. He had the weapon ready and was scanning the environment for any hostiles. Several explosions rocked the city of New Alexandria. The City was lost. Reach was lost. Paul knew it: there was nothing the Spartans or the UNSC could do to save it. All they could do now was to safely evacuate the planet._

_"The troopers and civies are here, Captain," Jameson said over the com. Mere seconds later, a group of civilians came running into the building followed by a few army troopers._

_"Who is in charge here?" one of the army troopers asked as they approached Paul._

_"The Captain. He is over there, near the balcony," Paul replied. Without another word, the army trooper was off heading towards the balcony. The other army troopers took positions near the entrance. Paul started scanning over the civilians, looking for his family. He spotted an older couple with a teenage daughter; his mother, father and younger sister. Paul approached them. They looked towards him with worry. Paul realized they would not know it was him because of the helmet. He stopped near them, placed his assault rifle on his back, and reached up to remove his helmet. His family gasped when they saw him._

_"What are you guys doing here?" Paul asked. His expression told them how worried he was. "I thought you guys left months ago?" Without answering, his younger sister practically hug-tackled him with tears in her eyes._

_"I'm sorry,"his mother replied. "We didn't have the money to get a transport to take us off planet."_

_Paul sighed as he hugged his sister. "You guys could have told me," He replied. "I could have helped you."_

_"Son, how are you? Have you been fighting these things?" His mother ignored his questions._

_"Yeah." He nodded. "My squad got into a skirmish with the smaller ones and the bird-like ones."_

_"We saw a big ape looking one with a hammer on our way over here. It took out a whole group of unarmed civilians…..the bastards," his father said._

_"The Brutes," Paul replied. "They're all over this city…..we're going to get you guys out of here. I promise."_

_"W-Well what about you?" his mother asked. "Surely you aren't going to stay much longer."_

_"No I'm not. We're staying until the city is evacuated."_

_"The whole city?" his dad asked. "That could take days!"_

_His sister finally pulled away from him. "Evac is here!" one of the army troopers shouted. "I need all civilians to head to the balcony!" All of the civilians save for Paul's family started heading towards the balcony. Paul quickly slipped his helmet back on._

_"Evac is here," Paul repeated. "Let me escort you to the Pelican." Paul gently took his sister's hand as he led his family to the Pelican. The Pelican was almost packed to max capacity; there was just enough room for three more people. "You guys need to get on this Pelican and get out of here," Paul said._

_"Alright son, we will," his dad said as he stepped onto the Pelican._

_"Stay safe," Paul's mother said as she hugged him and then got onto the Pelican with the help of her husband. Paul's sister didn't say a word; she just hugged him and then got onto the Pelican._

_"Bye." Paul waved to them. "See you when I get to Earth."_

_"See you then," Paul swore he heard his sister say. The Pelican slowly started to lift off; it stopped and hovered in place. Paul watched as the hatch closed and his family disappeared from view._

_"Aww shit! Captain! We got Brutes!" Jameson shouted over the com. "And one of 'em has a hammer!" Paul turned around in time to see a small squad of Brutes come running into the building. A Chieftain with a hammer was taking up the rear._

_"ODSTs intercept! Protect the transport!" the Captain shouted._

_Paul turned, retrieved his assault rifle, took aim, and began to fire at the Brutes._

_"Banshees inbound!" another voice shouted over the com. Paul turned around just in time to see several blasts of green plasma impact the transport Pelican._

…

August 17th, 2555

1246 hours

Unknown Planet

Unknown System

"Commander….Commander…." Paul heard a far off voice.

"Hmmm? What?" Paul quickly snapped out of the daydream, looking around the small room that he was in. The room appeared old and worn down: the walls appeared to be losing their color and contained several cracks. The room itself was empty save for some military equipment that had been brought in by the occupying UNSC forces. There was a large table-like device that Paul was currently sitting at. On the top was a hologram emitter that was showing an image of the planet that they were currently on. The entrance to the building was just a wide open area in the wall. There was sand blowing in from the outside. There was another Spartan standing not too far from him. Paul finally looked over at them. The Spartan was wearing the EVA variant of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. The armor was primarily silver with a few dark blue lines along it. The helmet's visor was also silver. The armor also had a feminine shape to it, obviously indicating the user was female.

"Commander? You okay?" a feminine voice spoke.

"Yeah," Paul replied. "I'm fine, Ash. J-Just day dreams again."

"Again?" she replied. "Would you like me to have another look?"

"No need." Paul shook his head. "You spend enough time in my head as is."

"True Commander, but is that not why you requested my transfer here?"

"No. I requested your transfer here because of your unique skill set. I don't meet very many people that can rip apart an Elite with their mind."

"Why thank you Commander. I love it when you compliment my abilities to kill, but there is so much more to me than that." Ashley's voice had a bit of suggestiveness behind it.

"True, you've more than proven that." Paul slightly smiled. "You didn't just come over here to check up on me, did you?"

"Of course not Commander," she said. "The new recruit just arrived. He's on his way here from the _Into Heaven_."

"Good," Paul said as he stood up and grabbed his helmet off of the nearby table. He put on the helmet and locked it into place. Paul's armor consisted of the ODST variant for the 2nd Generation of MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. He chose to use that variant since he was used to the ODST armor already. Paul's armor was colored a steely gray with gold going from the top of the helmet down all the way to the back and gold shoulder pads.

Ashley started walking out of the building with Paul following right behind her. The planet they were on, simply put, was nothing but desert with a few rocky mountains dotting the landscape. The UNSC military forces had moved in and took over an abandoned outpost from several decades ago. The outpost consisted of a few barracks, a command post, and a vehicle bay. The base was busy with activity, as marines were running from place to place and several Pelicans were unloading equipment from the UNSC starship orbiting the planet. Paul and Ashley were heading to the landing zone where the new recruit would be waiting for them.

"Did you see the new recruit yet?" Paul asked.

"Spartan Slove?" Ashley asked. "No sir. Just read his file. He has….quite the….unique background."

"So you read his entire file?"

"Everything. Even the parts under the black ink."

"He's more classified than you are."

"Yeah, well I don't think I'm a fox spirit," she said a bit skeptical. "And this place….Draconia….It's not on any of the star maps."

"Doesn't mean it doesn't exist," Paul replied.

"Still, I would like to see actual proof. I can at least prove to you that I have psychic abilities. There's nothing here disproving that he might be crazy."

"True Corporal, but sometimes you have to take things on faith."

"So you believe his story, Commander?"

"Yes. I have no reason not to. I'm sure there are planets that we haven't discovered yet or alien species that we haven't encountered yet. I'll take his word, so long as he follows my orders. You're allowed to believe what you want Corporal."

"Yes Commander. Who knows, maybe he'll allow me to dwell into his memories a bit."

"Ash." Paul stopped and looked at her.

She stopped as well. "What?"

"Just make sure you get the okay, before you start doing the mind dwelling."

"Of course Commander." She nodded.

The two of them arrived at the landing zone. One of the Pelicans had just touched down. The hatch in the back opened up revealing a UNSC Officer and another Spartan. This Spartan appeared to be armored up in the Scout variant Generation 2 MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. The Officer and the Spartan stepped off the Pelican. Paul and Ashley approached them.

"Commander Ramirez!" the Officer called out.

"Sir!" Paul saluted him as they approached.

"Commander, this is Spartan Slove." The officer motioned towards the Spartan standing next to him. The Spartan waved quickly.

"Yes sir I am aware of that. I have met him once before."

"Well good." The Officer sighed. "Saves me a lot of trouble. I was told to leave him with you."

"Of course."

"Also, the Captain says you and your team need to be ready to move out soon. He wants you guys ahead of the assault force."

"Consider it done." Paul and Ashley saluted the Officer and then he headed back to the Pelican.

"Lance Corporal Ryth Slove," Paul said.

"I, uhh, think," the Spartan replied. "I wasn't exactly given a rank, but you can call me Ryth!"

"Right…." Paul replied. "Well, Ryth….Welcome to Fireteam Valor. I'm Commander Paul Ramirez; we met once before."

"Oh yeah! I remember! Paul, I met you back on that one planet….What was it called…Earf? Eararth?" The Spartan seem to be thinking hard.

"Uhhh, do you mean Earth?" Ashley suddenly chimed in.

"Yeah! That planet!"

"Okay then…" Ashley whispered quietly. Paul could tell that Ashley was giving Ryth weird looks, even from underneath her helmet.

"Anyway," Paul continued. "This is Corporal Ashley Connors," Paul properly introduced Ryth to Ashley. "She is Team Valor's Support/Intelligence Officer."

"Nice to meet you," Ashley held out her hand.

"Umm, uhhh." Ryth looked down at her hand. "Nice to me you too." He reached a hand out and shook hers.

"Let's continue on," Paul said. "You still have the other members to meet, and you're the only one that needs to be briefed on our mission." Paul and Ashley started walking, and Ryth followed shortly behind. "Well Ryth, I read up on your history," Paul started. "Everything. Draconia, Fox Spirits, Magic, teleporters, it was quite a story."

"Do you think I'm crazy, just like all the other humans do?" Ryth asked.

"Not one bit. I do believe you are telling the truth and you are indeed an alien. I have a few question of my own that I want to ask, but there is a time and place for everything. And now, we have a mission to fulfill. How briefed are you on our history?"

"I pretty much know that humans were at war with a group of alien species known collectively as the Covenant for several decades. I know the war officially ended about two years ago, but there are still remnants of the Covenant around."

"Which is why we are here. We were sent to this part of the galaxy to investigate a pirate raid on a nearby planet. We arrived here and the first thing we encountered was a small fleet of Jiralhanae ships. Do you know what a Jiralhanae is?"

"Uhhhh…. Not quite," Ryth said.

"Brutes. Do you know what a Brute is?" Paul asked.

"Yeah! The big monkey-looking ones that have serious temper problems!"

"Yeah. Well we ran into a small fleet of Brute ships. The fleet was comprised of one Covenant Carrier, one Corvette, and several small ships. Once they noticed us, they started running away. They didn't try to jump into slipspace or fight back; they just ran. We chased them all the way out of the system and to here. We managed to disable the Corvette and caused it to crash land on this planet that we're on. The smaller ships started harassing us while the Carrier sent down a few Phantoms to the crashed Corvette. The Phantoms never came back up and the Carrier jumped out of system. The surviving smaller ships retreated planet side and we were ordered to establish a landing site for a base. Base has been established and we are going to run assault reconnaissance."

"Also," Ashley interjected before Ryth could say anything, "the Brutes have been launching Banshee hit-and-run attacks on our base. Nothing too major, but the Captain believes that they are trying to stall us."

"Hmmm." Ryth nodded. "I think I got all that." The three of them had arrived at the entrance to the Vehicle Bay just as another Spartan was walking out. This Spartan was wearing the Venator variant of the 2nd Generation MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor which was primarily colored brown with gold lines almost randomly on the armor.

"Oh Commander," a female voice said, "I was about to go find you. JD just finished loading up the Transport Hog and Bill just about finished with the Armor modification you requested. Has the new recruit arrived yet?"

"Yes he has." Paul turned to Ryth. "Lance Corporal Ryth Slove, meet Warrant Officer Alea Paige; she is Valor's Recon Sniper."

"It's great to finally meet you," Alea said.

"Alea!" Ryth exclaimed. "You're here too! I'm not in this alone!"

"Excuse me?" she said confused Ryth suddenly moved forward and hugged her. "I thought I was the only one here!"

"You must have me confused with someone else…." Alea said as Ryth hugged her.

"What? Aren't you Alea from Draconia?" Ryth asked while pulling away from her.

"No. I'm Alea from Earth," Alea said.

"Oh. Oops. Sorry." Ryth was clearly embarrassed.

"Good first impression, Ryth," Paul joked. "Anyway, on to business." Paul walked past Alea into the Vehicle Bay, followed by Alea, Ashley, and Ryth. The Vehicle bay ended up being an Armory with a Vehicle Bay attached to it. The Vehicle Bay was the first section that was near the entrance and it was filled with almost everything the UNSC had to offer: M12 LRV Warthogs were the most plentiful. There were also different variants of the M12 including the M12R, M12G1, and the M831. There were also a few M274 Mongooses around. Lastly, there were five M808 Scorpions and one M850 Grizzly tank.

"Here is the Vehicle Bay," Paul said to Ryth. "As you can see, we have quite the assortment of transport."

"Note of advice," Ryth said. "I am an unexperienced driver."

"I'll keep that in mind," Paul replied. The group continued on, eventually reaching another Spartan checking up on one of the M831s. This Spartan wore the Soldier variant of the 2nd Generation MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. His armor was comprised of dark colors, primarily a dark blue with dark red as the secondary color.

"JD!" Paul called out.

JD looked up and noticed the others. He walked from around the Warthog to meet them. "I take it this is the new Recruit," JD said as he approached the others.

"You'd be right," Paul said. "Ryth, meet Lieutenant Commander Jacob Daniel; he's Valor's Demolition Expert and second-in-command."

"Just call me JD," JD replied.

"So you're the guy that makes everything go boom?" Ryth asked excitingly.

"Yeah. I'm the guy that brings several pounds of ordinance to a knife fight."

"Yeah, preferring to blow the door down instead of knocking," Ashley said with a slight laugh.

"It's quicker and more efficient," JD replied. "Not only does it get the door open, but it may also kill any enemies inside."

"Makes sense," Paul replied. "JD, just make sure we're ready to go in 10."

"Roger that." JD saluted as Paul began to walk off. Ashley started following Paul, motioning for Ryth to follow as well. Alea stayed behind to help JD. Paul and Ashley lead Ryth to the Armory which was lined with weapons, weapons and more weapons.

"Here is the armory," Paul said.

"Oh yay! Do I finally get to pick out my weapons?" Ryth asked with much excitement.

"Not yet," Ashley replied. "The Commander has commissioned Bill, our Weapons Expert, to make the weapons you have requested."

"Even better!" Ryth said with even more excitement.

"Speaking of Bill, let's go introduce you to him," Paul said. Ryth once again followed Paul and Ashley as they led him to a workshop-like area. In this area was a lone Spartan who seemed to be working on a device that was attachable to the wrist of the MJOLNIR wrist gauntlet.

"Bill!" Paul called out.

The Spartan looked up from his work. This Spartan was wearing the Pathfinder variant for the 2nd Generation MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor. His armor was colored a dark grey with a dark blue as the secondary. "Commander, I just finished the wrist blade gauntlets you requested," Bill said first thing.

"Okay, Bill, but first," Paul pointed to Ryth, "meet Lance Corporal Ryth Slove." Paul then turned to Ryth. "Ryth, meet Lieutenant Bill Weston."

"Pleasure." Bill nodded.

"So you're the guy that makes all the fancy toys for the team?" Ryth asked.

"Yup and I have two for you." Bill turned and pointed to six weapon lockers near the back of the workshop. "Yours is in the sixth locker."

"Awesome!" Ryth ran past Bill.

"Commander," Bill said as he held up a metal bracelet-like device, "put this on your wrist." Paul took the device; the circular part retracted. Paul placed the device around his wrist on his right arm. The circular part wrapped around his wrist.

"It's controlled by thought before movement," Bill explained. Paul focused and a metal blade extended out from the wrist device. "The wrist blade gauntlet."

"Nice. Very nice," Paul said as he gave the blade a few test swings. "Good Job Lieutenant." The blade retracted back into the device. Bill just nodded and returned to work on his current project. "Ash." Paul turned to Ashley. "Make sure you're armored up and at the Transport Hog in five."

"Yes Commander." She nodded as she went back into the Armory.

"Bill, Ryth!" Paul called out. "Five minutes!"

"Roger that Commander," Bill said, still working. Ryth was too excited to pay attention.

…

_Approximately 6 minutes later…._

Ryth finally arrived at the Vehicle Bay about sixty seconds too late. All the other Spartans of Team Valor were waiting for him near a Transport Hog.

"Spartan Slove, you are late," Paul spoke. "What was the holdup?"

"Sorry, got a little carried away with the new weapons…" Ryth held up a shiny new sniper rifle with customized barrel with the ability to switch the silencer on and off. He also had a miniature M395 DMR: the rifle was about half its normal size, but it retained all its combat abilities. Strapped to his back was a katana in its sheath.

"Hurry it up! We don't have all day," Paul called out. Ryth ran over to join the others around the Transport Hog. "Corporal," Paul said. Ashley tossed a PDA-like device to him. Paul caught it and activated it. The device was actually a small hologram emitter, and it was showing a hologram of the Corvette crash-site as well as the landscape surrounding it. Paul tossed it into the back of the Warthog; the image grew slight larger. You could now see Banshees flying around as well as Brutes standing guard around the crash site.

"From what we can see, it appears that the Brutes are using the Corvette as a makeshift base of operations. What they are doing? We have no clue," Paul said.

"They're probably over there praying to the false gods that we don't go over there and kick their asses," JD remarked with a slight snicker.

"It's more than likely an attempt to prepare for a last stand," Alea replied. "They have no escape from this planet and they know they're outmatched."

"They're desperate," Bill replied. "They were abandoned."

"If they were desperate, they would have attacked us more than they did," Ashley replied. "No, they're planning something."

"Which is why the Captain wants us to go in to have a look around," Paul replied. "Maybe run a little interference on their plans."

"And they need a Spartan team for that?" JD asked.

"We're expendable I tell ya," Bill replied.

"Don't start with that bullshit again," Paul said. "It's nothing we can't handle. Plus, we have a sixth member this time. Just hope he's better at fighting than he is at arriving on time."

Everyone took a glance at Ryth; he was looking back and forth nervously. "Hey!" he replied.

"You're a newbie; you have yet to be tested," Paul said. "You showed potential in the simulations, but let's see how you stack up in a real firefight. Consider this mission a chance to show us what you have."

"That's assuming we ever get into a firefight," Ashley added as she reached into the back of the Warthog and retrieved the PDA. She switched it off.

"Anyway, mount up!" Paul said, heading to the passenger seat of the Warthog. "JD! You're driving. Bill, open up the doors. Rest of you, hop in the back." Bill walked off neared the doors. Paul took a seat on the passenger side. Ashley, Alea, and Ryth hopped into the back of the Warthog. JD took the driver seat and started up the vehicle to let it warm up a bit. Bill pressed a button on the console near the door and the automated door slowly began to rise, then he jogged back to the Warthog and hopped in the back with the others. "Let's get a move on," Paul said. JD pressed down on the gas pedal and they were off.

**_Please leave a review and tell me what you think, It would be greatly appreciated!_**


	3. Chapter 2 - Something Amiss

_**Hey Guys! Blaze here! And I present to you Chapter Two of Halo Legacy! I'm going to try and keep a weekly update with this story going, so expect a new chapter every Sunday night/Monday morning. Please enjoy!**_

**Chapter Two**

**Something Amiss**

_Several small explosions protruded from the D77-TC Pelican, causing the vehicle to lose altitude and slightly spin out. _

"_NO!" Paul cried out as the Pelican fell out of sight. _

_Ignoring the enemies advancing towards his position, Paul raced towards the edge of the balcony. He peeked over the edge to try to catch a view of the damaged Pelican. Two Banshees flew overhead, paying the ODSTs no attention. Paul spotted the Pelican just as it spun out and crashed into the side of what appeared to be an apartment complex. Another small explosion erupted from the orifice created from the crash. 'It's not too far,' Paul thought. 'I could make it on foot.'_

_ "Ramirez! Watch your back!" Paul heard the Captain's voice shouting over the com._

"_Huh?" Quickly turning around, Paul was met with a charging Brute Chieftain. The Gravity Hammer that was being wielded by the Chieftain was swung horizontally towards Paul's head with the blades on it intent on ripping Paul's head apart from his shoulders. Narrowly avoiding the head of the Gravity Hammer, Paul dropped into a crouch; his life was spared by a mere inch. A quick flip of the Hammer in the Chieftain's hands and then the hammer was being raised over the Chieftain's head just as he let out a loud roar. The Hammer's path was set to slam down on Paul. From pure luck alone, Paul was able to throw himself out of the way of the Hammer strike, but the energy pulse given off by the Gravity Hammer as it slammed down into the ground pushed Paul a bit farther. He was pushed to the ground hard, and his assault rifle slid out of his hands a few feet away from him._

"_Argh….AH!" Paul held his head from the hard impact of the floor. 'This helmet doesn't do shit!' he thought. The Brute Chieftain roared loudly, its Hammer in its arms. The Hammer was raised once again. Paul, being too groggy, was surely done for. The sniper rifle's signature firing sound rang out and a sniper round hit the Chieftain's helmet. It flew off and the Chieftain's personal shields dissipated. The Brute was stunned, giving Paul enough time to roll to his assault rifle. Rifle in hand, Paul took aim at the Brute and fired. Bullets hit the Brute's armor causing the Chieftain to raise its left arm and use a shield like attachment on the armor to protect itself. Paul watched as the ammo indicator on the rifle went from 23 to zero in a few seconds. Once the gunfire stopped, the Chieftain lowered its arm and roared in anger. A chunk of its head exploded as another sniper round tore through it. Dark red blood splattered on Paul's visor. The Chieftain's corpse just dropped to the ground in a heap. Paul looked up in the direction of the sniper fire to see Jameson looking out the second story window, his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder._

"_No time to waste!" Jameson's voice said over the com. "There are still more Brutes below my position." Paul slowly got to his feet and took a moment to catch his breath. He popped the clip out of his MA37 and quickly popped in another clip, seeing the ammo indicator on his rifle go from zero to 32. Gunfire could be heard coming from inside the building as well as what sounded like Spike Rifles, which were typically wielded by Brutes._

"_Shit! Ramirez! What are you doing!? Get your ass over here and assist!" the Captain shouted over the com. Paul snapped back into reality._

"_On my way Captain!" Paul replied back. Paul ran into the room to catch a Brute with its back turned to him. As far as Paul could see, the Brute was trying to flank the Captain's position while a few other Brutes fired at the ODSTs from behind cover. The Captain and two other ODSTs were in an area that was slightly raised off the ground with two staircases being the only way up. While the Brute was firing its Spiker, Paul ran towards it while pulling his combat knife out of its sheath. He jumped up onto the Brute's back and wrapped his arms around its neck to keep him from being tossed. The creature, clearly taken by surprise, dropped its Spiker and began running around to shake Paul off its back. The Brute spun around and slammed Paul against the wall, but he still hung on. Paul flipped the knife around and swung it at a downward angle right into the left side of the Brute's chest where the heart should be. The blade was forced all the way, however the Brute was still struggling. Paul was shocked by the creature's toughness. He grabbed the handle of the knife and wrenched it in an out of the Brute's chest in a flurry of blood, but the Brute still kept thrashing about. Paul was thrown off of the Brute, hitting the ground and sliding a bit. The Brute was holding its wound and letting out cries of pain as dark red blood was pouring out. Paul struggled to his feet, grabbing his M6G sidearm as he did and fired a round that hit the Brute in the head, killing the creature instantly. _

_Paul sighed in relief. During his little skirmish with the Brute, the other Brutes had been killed. Paul's knife was still stuck in the Brute. A hand grabbed the handle and ripped it out of the corpse. Another ODST hand removed the knife and wiped it clean of the dark red blood. The ODST was slightly shorter and thinner than Paul. "You dropped this, Private," a female voice said from behind the helmet. She flipped the knife around and held it by the blade so that Paul could grab it._

"_Th-Thanks Sergeant." Paul took the knife from her._

"_Sorry about your family, Paul," the Sergeant said, dropping any formality._

"_Ma'am, we still need to go and investigate the crash site! I saw the Pelican go down on the building across from us!" Paul said. _

"_I don't know. It's up to Command," she replied. "They probably won't bother, with how bad things are getting." Banshees could be heard zooming by and off into the distance._

"_Ramirez!" The Captain was heading towards Paul._

_Paul flinched, he knew it was the Captain heading towards him just to chew him out. "Yes, S-Sir?" Paul replied._

"_What was that shit?" The Captain shouted and pointed to the Brute that Paul had killed._

"_My attempt at a quick kill on a Brute, sir!" _

"_Private! Were you out of fucking ammo? What was going through your mind when you jumped on that Brute's back?" _

"_Sir! The Brute was flanking your position! I was merely trying to cover you sir!"_

"_I appreciate the thought, but you have a rifle for a reason! Use it!"_

"_Yes sir! Sorry sir!"_

_The Captain turned way. "Get ready. Command wants us evac'd in ten minutes."_

"_Sir! What about the Pelican? I saw where it went down. It's not too far. We could probably get to it."_

"_No time. Command is sending us to assist Spartan Noble Team as they attack the Covenant controlled Sword Base."_

"_But what if there are survivors? We can't leave them behind!" Paul protested._

"_Private! Those are our orders and you will follow them!"_

"_N-No," Paul whispered. _

_The Captain stopped walking away and quickly turned back to face Paul. "What did you say, Private?" The Captain's voice was a mix of surprise and anger._

"_I-I said no….sir," Paul replied quietly. "The civilians could still be alive."_

"_Private! We can't save all the Civilians! The best we can do is save the ones we can."_

"_But we CAN save these civilians." The Sergeant joined in Paul's argument._

"_Sergeant! Not you too!" the Captain said. "You two would have me risk an entire ODST squad on the chance that there might be some survivors? No! I know that you two want to do good, but you'd be doing more good if you-" Suddenly the Captain was hit in the back of the head by the other ODST. Paul and the Sergeant stared wearily at the other ODST. Footsteps could be heard running down the stairs as Jameson joined the rest of them._

"_Hey guys! Did I miss any….oh," he said when he saw the Captain unconscious on the ground. "What happened here?"_

"_You three," the other ODST said. "You three go and secure the Pelican crash site. I'll stay here and take care of the Captain."_

_The Sergeant nodded. "Let's go," she said. "We don't have much time before this city is overrun." Paul nodded and started to follow the Sergeant. Jameson followed them as they walked out of the building, heading for the crash site._

…

August 17th, 2555

1330 hours

Unknown Planet

Unknown System

Paul sighed. He was really getting tired of these daydream flashbacks.

"Sand, sand, and more fucking sand," JD said as he drove the Warthog through what appeared to be an endless desert. "I join the corps on the promise of getting to see exotic locations and meet exciting, new people, Commander."

"What about me?" Ryth asked. "Not exotic enough for you?"

"You know how the military works," Bill replied. "Promises of adventure….of glory. Little do you realize they are sending you into hell."

"Bill….dude, you are such a downer. And shut up, Ryth," JD replied.

"I don't know…" Alea spoke up. "The sand kind of reminds me of the beach…..the sun, the ocean." She sighed in content.

"Yeah, beaches are nice," JD said. "You know what my favorite thing about the beach is, Alea?"

"What's that?"

"Getting to see you in a bikini," JD said with a slight laugh.

"That's all you'd get to see." That response was met with a slight chuckle from mostly everybody.

"Nice try JD, but she got you," Paul said.

"Yeah, Commander, I know when I'm beat," JD replied.

There was a silence followed by the sound of Ryth's voice. "Last chance I had to go to the beach, I drew the short straw and was forced to go to the desert instead while my friends partied at the beach. They mentioned something about some sea monster attack, but that was nothing compared to surviving the desert on foot with no food or water and no protection against sandstorms or angry desert tribes…"

"Commander," Ashley spoke.

"Yeah? Corporal?"

"Where exactly are we going?" She was clearly ignoring Ryth's short story.

"The Brute's base was built on a ridge. We are going to the top of the ridge to recon on the area. From there, I will determine what to do."

"These Brutes…." Alea said. "I wonder what they're planning."

"I never saw the Brutes as tactical strategists," JD added. "I've seen them rip the arms off an ODST though." The group was nearing a series of rocky cliffs; the ridge.

"Are the Brutes really that strong?" Ryth asked.

"Yeah." Paul was the one to reply. "Brutes are twice as big and stronger than an average human. Maybe even stronger than us."

"And we're going to deal with an entire army of them?"

"They're strong, but they aren't very smart. They're often blinded by rage," JD replied.

"We play it smart and we'll be fine," Paul said.

"Roger that Commander." Ryth replied. "Just another walk in the woods for me!"

"Sir, we're nearing optimal position," Ashley said.

"JD, pull over here," Paul ordered. JD slowed the Warthog to a stop. "This is our stop Spartans," Paul said as he jumped out. The others piled out of the vehicle and JD turned off the ignition. "JD, Bill, stay with the Hog. The rest of you with me," Paul ordered as he headed to the edge of one of the cliffs.

Ashley, Ryth, and Alea followed their Commander to the edge of the cliff. All four of them lay prone on the ground in a spot where they could oversee the Brute's base. Alea and Ryth were both looking through their sniper scopes. Ashley removed her helmet and set it aside. Paul handed her a pair of binoculars. She brushed the blonde strands of hair out of her face and looked through the binoculars. "What do we got Corporal?" Paul asked.

"Brutes, and lots of them," Ashley replied.

"Besides the obvious."

"They're just standing guard….Wait….There are Elites with them as well….and they seem to be prisoners…."

"I see it too, Commander," Alea said. "The Elites are being lead out by gun point."

'What is going on down there?' Paul thought to himself.

"Why are there Elites with Brutes in the first place?" Ashley asked.

"Maybe the Brutes took over the ship," Alea suggested.

"Command," Paul said over the com. "Command, we have an issue."

"Copy Spartan Team Valor," a voice replied.

"The Brutes have Elite prisoners," Paul replied. "Permission to intervene."

"Negative, Commander. No telling if those are friendly Elite or a part of the Covenant Remnant."

"Roger that Command. Orders?"

"Assault force is almost ready…..I need your team to hold position for now."

"Yes sir." Paul turned back to his team. "It's a no go on the prisoners."

"Sir! I see the Chieftain!" Ashley said.

"Just one?"

"Correction. Two…three….no four!" she said.

"Sir, we could take them out from here," Ryth said.

"You'd be stirring up a Hornet's nest," Ashley replied. "The Assault force will be here shortly."

"I'm not seeing any vehicles," Alea replied.

"What are they doing with the prisoners?" Paul asked.

"Nothing. They just have them lined up," Ashley replied.

"Commander Ramirez! Base is under attack! We have Elites!" Command replied on the com.

"Elites!?" Ashley replied.

"Command, say again? Elites are attacking?" Paul replied.

"Roger that. It's a small force, nothing we can't handle, but Assault force will be delayed indefinitely at the moment. Your new orders are as follow: hold position and attack if provoked or otherwise ordered to."

"Roger that sir!" Paul replied.

"There are Elites on this planet as well?" Ashley said.

"Then I guess it's safe to assume that those Elites aren't friendly," Alea said. "But if we capture them then we could learn what they're doing on this planet."

"That's assuming if they even want to talk," Paul replied.

"Orders sir?" Ryth asked. Paul didn't reply as he was looking around and scanning the ridge line. He noticed a few birdlike creatures perched on top of one of the cliffs.

"Jackals?" he said. Several purple beams went flying towards the Spartan's directions. Each purple energy shot impacted the sand around the Spartans. "Jackals with Beam Rifles!" Paul shouted. "Spartans! Find cover and return fire!" Every Spartan got to their feet and ran for cover in the rocky cliffs. Paul was hit by one of the Beam Rifle rounds, but his personal shields took the hit for him and then dissipated. "Spartans! Return fire!" Paul ordered as they jumped behind the cover of the rocks. Alea fired off a shot from her sniper rifle and hit one of the Jackals. Its body fell and slid down the cliff side.

"Jackal down!" Alea called out.

Ashley slipped her helmet back into place. "Corporal! You okay?" Paul asked.

"Y-Yeah Commander. Close call," she replied back as she returned fire with her battle rifle.

"Another Jackal down!" Ryth called out as a round from his DMR met its mark. There was a slight humming sound that seemed to grow louder with each passing second. Paul looked around and found the source: several Banshees were flying towards them.

"Banshees inbound!" Paul shouted.

"I got this!" JD's voice could be heard over the com. A red beam suddenly shot out and struck two of the Banshees, turning them into burning scrap metal. Mere seconds later, rockets impacted the remaining Banshees, making short work of them. Bill was already at the others position. He dropped down from the cliff and landed next to Alea. JD came running to the rocky terrain, purple beams flying all around him.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, "taking care of some guest."

"Good job, you two," Paul said. "Alright, no doubt we struck up the hornet's nest, so let's get ready for a fight, shall we? Ryth, I want you to circle around and flank the Jackals and then provide overwatch. Alea, I want you to go invisible and start picking off the Brutes down below. Ashley, JD, and Bill, we're going to fight our way down. Everyone got their orders?"

"Yes sir!" Alea said, activating her Active Camouflage and completely disappearing from sight. Alea's Active Camouflage module had been upgraded by Bill and was no longer hindered by movement.

"Got it!" Ryth said and disappeared around the rocky cliff and out of sight.

"Alright, guys," Paul said. "Let's do this like we've done countless time before!"

_**This chapter was a little bit shorter than the first one and in my opinion it wasn't as good. But still. Please leave a review and tell me what you think. Feedback, positive or negative, is (usually) always appreciated!**_


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